Another Kick In The Stable!

The other day I get a call from my son. Seems the '92 is having transmission problems.  I drove to the other side of Portland to find him without third gear.  It would go to about 25 to 30 mph then act like it was kicked into neutral.

While I had all I needed to tow it home (it is set up to tow four down) I really didn't want to pull it with the Malibu.  (There just isn't enough weight difference between the two for safe towing in traffic.)  I had the GPS pick out a route with 45mph max speeds and drove it home, on back roads, holding it in second gear.

35 mph most of the way.

The '92 has an OK body with ugly paint.  Being a North West (US) car it has very little rust.  Interior is a bit ratty.  The motor is great as it is a JDM motor installed less than two years ago.

Looking for a replacement transmission, I found this on Craigslist:

I looked at it and it didn't look to bad.  1994 Sidekick JLX with most of the options other than AC.  (I should be able to add that.)  It also has auto hubs that need to be tossed. 

On a test drive it ran pretty good but blew steam when warm.  No water/antifreeze in the oil.  Someone welded a 2 inch receiver under a 1.25 hitch.  Looks functional but clunky.  Needs a grille and some minor work on the bumper cover.  The body looks like it could clean up fairly good... the interior might take more work.  There are some monster stickers on some interior parts.  Stereo looks good... not that it makes that much difference for me.

As I understand it was the owners first car, it looks amazingly good.  Most teenagers trash their first car before learning how to take care of a car.  (His second car is a 2015 Jeep that he bought and paid for by himself.)

Anyway, paid less than the asking price and drove it home.  When I get the two door project out of the garage, I'll roll this one in to truly evaluate it.

My current plans are to take what I need from the '92 and fix this one.  The use the other "92" parts to upgrade a chassis for the two door project.  (Maybe 16v and 4 speed auto?)  Then I'll need to sell off most of my "Kick stable" for a move to the south west.